Holloway returns from Sac. with harsh words for AB 109

When Ridgecrest Councilmen Chip Holloway and Jason Patin brought back reports from last week’s the League of California Cities policy committees in Sacramento, it provided a mixed snapshot in terms of public safety.

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By Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Ridgecrest Daily Independent - Ridgecrest, CA

By Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Posted Jan. 25, 2013 at 12:11 PM
Updated Jan 25, 2013 at 12:23 PM

By Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Posted Jan. 25, 2013 at 12:11 PM
Updated Jan 25, 2013 at 12:23 PM

When Ridgecrest Councilmen Chip Holloway and Jason Patin brought back reports from last week’s the League of California Cities policy committees in Sacramento, it provided a mixed snapshot in terms of public safety.

“I have to say there is a positive tone in Sacramento, believe it or not,” Holloway said during Wednesday’s special council meeting. “I got some good news today that budget projections are coming in ahead of projections, but they’ll surely find a way to screw that up.”

Both Holloway and Patin serve on LCC committees that provide perspective and advocates for cities’ standpoints on state laws and actions. Holloway serves on the public safety policy committee and revenue and taxation committee; Patin serves on Community Services Policy Committee and the Environmental Quality Policy Committee.

However, Holloway leveled his greatest criticism at the 14-month-old Assembly Bill 109 that went into effect Oct. 2011. The law signed by Gov. Brown in April 2011 reshaped how prisoner releases are handled in the state by effectively shifting responsibility for low-level non-violent offenders to local law enforcement agencies and implementing early-release programs.

“From an public safety standpoint, AB 109, which is the prison realignment continues to be a terrible, terrible outcome for every community involved,” Holloway said. “Riverside County hired additional parole officers and for the first time armed them because of the level of parolees.”

In the time since AB 109 went into effect Oct. 2011, state prison populations have declined while many local jails have increased — often with no way to track the inflow properly. More than 35,000 inmates were to released into the 58 counties over two years.

“The most disturbing thing is there is no database so we don’t even know who is (released) in our communities,” Holloway said Wednesday night. “That means you could have raped and murdered, but when last time you stole a pizza, you can still get out of prison,” he said.

He said the LCC public safety committee’s No. 1 priority to form a database and get the money to “match the needs and requirements” of AB 109.

Kern County’s AB 109 Public Safety Realignment Act spending plan for FY 2012-13 include proposals funding for a database analyst, 16 deputy probation officers — bumping it to 44 from a current 28 funded through AB 109 money, and other additional staffing.

Kern County District Attorney Lisa Green’s office released a press release on Jan. 8 indicating that felony crime increased 15.1 percent in 2012, equating to an additional 1,057 cases for that year. The press release attributed some of that increase to AB 109.

In an email Thursday, Holloway charged a lack of information as a huge problem.

“The main problem for local law enforcement, including Ridgecrest, is there is no shared data base in order to track the prisoners being released,” Holloway said. “The other problem is almost all the prisoners being released are under no supervision and have no reporting requirements. In many cases local law enforcement doesn’t know they are here until they commit a crime.”

Page 2 of 3 - Ridgecrest Police Chief Ronald Strand pointed that was an issue for many law enforcement agencies, including Ridgecrest.

“Kern County provides us with a monthly list,” Strand said Thursday. “However, statewide there is no database to track paroles.”

As an example Strand said, “If there is someone released from L.A., there’s no statewide database telling me they are on probation for selling drugs.”

Strand pointed out the days when state correctional system tracked offenders was in the past.

“They’re wandering and there’s no control of where they go like there was in the past,” Strand said.

In addition to a lack of a solid tracking system, the pot of money to fund the early release and prison realignment effort is spread thin among 58 counties and more than 400 cities. The counties share $800 million and cities split $24 million.

Strand said the amount for Kern County’s cities amounted to approximately $1.1 million for the year, and the police chiefs would discuss how to best utilize that.

“The type of criminal being released in many cases are hardened and understand they have to do much more than in the past to face any significant jail time,” Holloway said. “The courts consider a non-non-non as anyone who hasn’t committed a violent crime in his last case as safe to release so a criminal who murdered, raped and then committed simple burglary on his last offense would be eligible for early release.”

Holloway said that RPD “is going to be forced to be much more proactive and be required to deal with many more calls than prior to AB 109” especially if released paroles decide to take advantage of the adjustments in law.

Chief Strand said there has been some noticeable increase in Ridgecrest.

“We’ve seen about a 10 percent increase over the last year,” Strand said. He said the majority of it was property crimes.

“It’s result in an increase of cases in property crime and thefts,” he said. Strand said that RPD was in the process of implementing new policies that he hopes will drive the number back down.

Strand and Holloway both encouraged that the community be more vigilant by locking car doors, shutting garage doors at night and overall keep valuables secure.

“They just need to be a little more proactive in protecting their property,” Strand said.

Strand indicated that the county itself is taking measures to handle the changes wrought by AB 109.

The County Board of Supervisors in November adopted a resolution noting the impact that AB 109 has on Kern County.

Page 3 of 3 - The board noted in its resolution that Kern County Sheriff Department was supervising 4,859 parole violators, twice what was projected by the California Department of Corrections, that would otherwise be remanded to the state prisons, as well 1,668 “triple-non-violent” offenders that otherwise would be turned over to state prisons — a 57 percent increase over CDCR projections.

In its first nine months after AB 109 kicked in, Kern County’s probation department received more than 1400 parolees - a sharp 86 percent increase over projections.

In a letter addressed to Gov. Brown, 2nd District Supervisor Zack Scrivner pointed out that Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood was implementing home incarcerations via electronic monitoring devices and similar programs. Scrivner pointed out the county would like to pursue other evidence-based treatment to better readjust released offenders to normal life, but noted funding shortfalls associated with AB 109.

The resolution called for more funding from the state to help implement programs, pointing out funding falls short in many areas and disproportionally affects counties faced with economical lows. It also called for a change in a formula to provide more funding for counties straddled with greater numbers of released felons.

RPD in the mean time is seeking the public’s continued help in tackling any increase in crime, including involvement in neighborhood watches.

“The more eyes we have that can report things, the better,” Strand said. Other community items also garnered RPD support.

“We’re still supporting Teen Court,” Strand said. “We’re trying to do whatever we can to raise public effort and awareness.”

Holloway said that at the LCC level, some things were in motion to make the state aware.

“The Public Safety Committee of the league will be working hard to secure more funding for local agencies, requesting new sentencing guidelines, requesting a better formula for allocating existing dollars, i.e. Kern County gets $7000 per prisoner and LA County gets $25,000, and implementing a statewide shared data base just to name a few,” he said.

Strand said in the AB 109 process and tracking parolees and offenders, it would be a challenge at first.

“There is a light at the end of the tunnel but it will take some time to adjust,” Strand said.